


Lunch in Limbo

by Kuroeia (Empatheia)



Series: FemFeb 2021 [7]
Category: Air Master (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February 2021, Ficlet, Future Fic, Near Future, Rare Fandoms, Rare Pairings, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29569122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empatheia/pseuds/Kuroeia
Summary: Some handle the waiting better than others.
Relationships: Kawamoto Michiru/Takigawa Yuu
Series: FemFeb 2021 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172204
Collections: Femslash February





	Lunch in Limbo

**Author's Note:**

> Day 7 FemFeb 2021 prompt: **lips**
> 
> Set shortly after the end, while Maki's still recovering from her fight with Byoubou. Some unrequited Michiru > Maki implied.

They'd skipped school to go the mall on a Tuesday afternoon. 

No particular reason, really. They didn't skip often, and there hadn't been anything particularly boring or unfun happening to drive them to it today; they just hadn't felt like being there anymore, all of a sudden, and that was reason enough.

"Wanna hit the pool later?" Yuu asked idly, twirling her chow mein endlessly around her chopsticks and staring off across the mostly empty food court.

Michiru shrugged. "We don't have our suits with us."

Yuu grimaced. "Ugh, and I'm not going home to get mine.  _ Hey, Dad! Just skipping cuz I felt like it, don't mind me. _ That'll go over well."

Picking at her fried rice, Michiru almost felt like what she wanted most was just to lie down for a nap somewhere. Things had been... busy, lately. Since meeting Maki. She didn't regret being Maki's friend at all, but it could be kind of dramatic sometimes. Maybe upsetting.

"Arcade?" Michiru suggested half-heartedly.

"That's the first place they'll come looking for us," Yuu pointed out glumly. 

For a minute they gamely tried to focus on their lunches, but it wasn't working. Neither of them had much of an appetite.

"Hey," said Yuu, catching her drifting attention and making eye contact. "She's gonna be fine. You know that. She always is. Just give her a few days to sleep and stuff her face and she'll be back right as rain."

"I know," said Michiru, because she did, then "I'm not worried," although she was. 

Maki got beaten up a lot — it was kind of her hobby — but this time had been different. Even Renge had been oddly serious and quiet ever since, muttering about gods and ghosts every now and then but never seeming able to explain. Maki had been off school for almost a week, hospitalized for the first couple of days, and had not contacted any of them or answered her phone in that time. 

She  _ was _ going to be fine. Michiru understood that. She just... She felt powerless and unhappy, thinking about it, that was all.

"C'mon, brighten up," urged Yuu, grinning at her. It only looked a little forced. 

Michiru appreciated it. "You've got rice on your face. Think I didn't notice you filching from my plate?"

Yuu pawed at herself, somehow managing to wipe everywhere  _ but _ where the stray grains of rice were stuck. Talent.

"No, little over— wrong way— up a bit—" Suddenly, Michiru remembered what the situation reminded her of, and laughed softly. "Hey, remember when we first had lunch with Maki?"

Snorting, Yuu nodded, still vaguely wiping around her mouth without effect. "Yeah, Mina was all—"

Leaning over the table without any warning whatsoever, Michiru kissed Yuu full on the lips, casually picking off the grains of rice while she did so. She popped them in her mouth as she sat back down. 

Yuu looked thunderstruck, colour high in her face and fireworks in her eyes. "Yeah," she breathed, "that."

Michiru wasn't exactly sure why she'd done that. It wasn't the first time, exactly, but there'd been no real reason to do it now, in full view of the handful of people scattered around the other tables. She'd just... felt like it, watching Yuu's face and her mouth as she'd eaten and worked to cheer Michiru up, and she didn't regret it now.

"Um, hey," said Yuu after a moment, still quite flushed and delighted, "you maybe wanna find somewhere quiet and make out instead?"

Michiru regarded her. Cheerful, reckless, radiant Yuu. Her best friend, closest ally, the fool to her straight man. Beautiful. Fearless. Hungry for life and everything she could strangle out of it. 

"Sure," she said, and pushed her tray away. "Let's get out of here."

If they couldn't help Maki, they could at least distract themselves while they waited, right? Hopefully, it wouldn't be too much longer until they were all together again. Michiru wasn't sure how much longer she could bear it, or what she'd do when she couldn't anymore, but she wasn't going to think about that anymore. Not today.

Today, she was going to let Yuu distract her. She was going to think about Yuu and Yuu's mouth and Yuu's hands and nothing and nobody else.

Maybe tomorrow--

**X**


End file.
